JACOBS EVOLUTION MG MIDGET

When it comes to car design, if something looks right, then it generally is right. The MG Midget Coupés (or Jacobs Midgets as they are almost universally known) are living proof of that maxim. The story is that when MG launched the new MG Midget in 1961, Dick Jacobs drew the outline of the Aston Martin DB4 Coupé over the top of a picture in the new brochure, then persuaded MG to build two of the resulting MG Midget Coupés for him.

With lightweight, handbeaten aluminium panels that transformed the Midget from Roadster to Coupé, wind tunnel testing proved just how slippery the new profile was, meaning that the new Midget Coupés performed as well as they looked. Campaigned by Jacobs and driven by Alan Foster, Andrew Hedges, Keith Greene and Chris Martyn during 1962 and 1963, they scored numerous class wins and a fair number of outright wins too, all against top quality opposition. In 1965 they were entered by Abingdon in a number of high-profile events, including at Sebring where Andrew Hedges and Roger Mac won their class – and beat the Works Triumph Spitfires.

So it remains something of a mystery as to why MG failed to capitalise on this success and build more of them. Perhaps the MG top brass felt the coupé bodies would be too expensive for general consumption, but whatever the reason they only ever built three examples – two for Jacobs and a third for John Milne in Scotland. However, a long-running project resulted a few years ago in this JEM (Jacobs Evolution Midget) from Hall's Garage, replicating the Jacobs Midgets but now with a fibreglass roof blended into a square arch refurbished, halfeliptic shell with a 1275cc engine and gearbox. That is it pictured here, and this gorgeous vehicle is due to be auctioned in early 2023. You can find further details from the auction house at and from